Sintering apparatus.



J. B. GREBNAWALT.

SINTBRING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION IILBD JUNE 24, 1912.

WITNESSES:

A 'ITORNEY.

I. B. GREBNAWALT.

I SINTERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, 1912.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

I I 1 I I ,1 i '1 I Z WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

1/5/22? 5- Graze/212ml? A TTORN'EY.

J. E. GREENAWALT.

SINTERING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED UNE 24, 1912.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

4 SHEETS-BHEET 3.

WITNESSES: I INVENTORF a 2 Y z/bbnEG/wnawa/fi Maw I A TTORNEY.

J. H. GREENAWALT.

SINTBRING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, 1912.

lull II I I'll IN VEN TOR. dbim E Greena Wa/f- Patented Sept. 15, 1 914. I 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

I ITITNESSES:

A 'ITORNEY.

g nrrnn STATES PATENT ornion.

JOHN E. ennnnnwnm, or innuvnn, COLORADO.

SI'NTERING APPARATUS.

in the novel details of construction more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims;

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical section taken longitudinally through the sintering pans on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a vertical section at right angles to Fig; 1 taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1:

. Fig. 3 is a top plan of the'pan and one-half of the hood superposed thereover; Fig. 4 is a. half side elevation and a half middle vertical longitudinal section of the pan and hood superposed thereover and lowered into position thereon; Fig. 5 is a side elevation f the hood and upper edge of the pan,the hood being shown lifted off the pan; Fig. 6 is a half end view and half cross-section of the hood enlarged; and Fig. .7 is an enlarged sectional detail of the hood on the line 7-7 of Fig. 3.

The present invention is directed to the construction of sintering pans in which there is effected the simultaneous sinter or agglomeration of the entire charge of said pan in a single operation, the object sought being to sinter a maximum charge with the least expenditure of time and fuel. As an example of such a charge,

dust from pig-iron blast furnaces, and fine iron ores. The flue dust contains from eight to twenty-five per cent. of'carbon and can be successfully agglomerated in my apparatus, the carbon supplying the necessary fuel forthe heat of agglomeration. 'It is de-.

sirable of course, to stop the operation as soon as the sintering or agglomerating of the charge is accomplished so as to retain as much carbon as possible for the subsequent smeltin of the charge in a blast furnace.

T o ores ontaining neither carbon nor sulfur about eight per cent. of fine coal or coke must be added tosupply the carbon. A mixture of blast furnace flue dust and ores containing no combustible ingredients gives ex- Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed June 24,4912. .Serial No. 705,495.

may be cited flue Patented Sept. 15, 19 14.

cellent practical results, the flue dust in some V cases containing suflicient carbon to agglomerate or sinter three times its weight of fine iron ore containing no combustible ingredients. Other examples of charges suitable for sintering purposes may be mentioned, such as copper sulfids in fine or powdered form, and in fact any fine material containing a sufficient percentage of combustible ingredients to furnish the heat necessary to efiect the agglomeration of the charge.

In the practice of my invention, the burning charge is subjected toa down-draft, the air and gases being drawn through the charge and its support by means of a suitable exhauster. It is imperative however, that before the draft fully asserts itself, the entire surface of the charge shall be ignited, after which the zone of combustion will permeate the entire charge and remain commensurate with the area of ignition.

Among the objects soughtis to provide means for distributing the ignition fuel (be it gas, oil or powdered carbonaceous fuel) over the entire surface of the charge in planes parallel and in proximity to, such surface and atthe same time supplying air or oxygen to the fuel, the said air or oxygen being introduced preferably through the roof of a shallow hood temporarily placed over the charge and forming with the walls of thepan a low ignition chamber above the charge, sealed at the sides against the influx of disturbing air currents which would tend to flow over the surface of the charge and prevent the flames from: contacting therewith, the roof of said hood being brought in proximity to the surface of the charge so as to cause the ignition flames to instantly fill the low chamber thus formed and hold the flame against the charge and thereby insure the simultaneous ignition thereof over its entire surface, a result primarily sought by the present invention. A further object "s to cause the ignltion fuel to be fully ignited before responding to the draft of the exhauster whereby no unconsumed ignition fuel will enter the charge.'

A further object is to introduce the air which supports the combustion of the ignition fuel in properly distributed Volumes over the charge so that the fuel introduced into the chamber shall be ignited at one time and receive its proper complement of oxygen.

every molecule of The apparatus possesses in additiomfcei l tain mechanical features the advantages oi which will be fully apparent from .a detailed" description of the invention,

follows:

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a pan or receptacle which in practlce'may be of any convenient size, the dimensions of that here shown being about twelve feet i n length-,-seven feet wide and two feet deep, the side walls of the pan being -provlded with-parallel ribs a, b, spaced a suitable distaince. apart to form a way or groove cu for the reception of the ends of the grates. G, the .upperrib a being about :ten inches below the edge of the pan, thus permitting the charging of the' pan w th a layer of ore or other material of substantially twelve inches in thickness.- Preferabl the pan is composed of two sections b0 ted together through the bottom transverse flanges 2. as shown,t'he buterendsjof the sections-terminating,'below the grates-Grand the charge supported thereon, in hollowtrunuions 3,

: 3, which thus communicate with the cham- F, the la-tter' being driven by 'an electric extendi or equivalent motorM'; When the exhau'ster is in operation, the, air and gases are drawn evenly-through the charge and its support ing grates, into the chamber 4 and out through the hollow trunnions '3, boxes 5,

pipes 6, into and out of the exhauster.

Thepan is freely rotatable-about the commonaxisof the trunnions 3, (being the-longitudinal axis of the pan) and when the charge thereon has been sintered the pan is rotated (b hand or otherwise) about said axis su cientl to dump the charge onto a chute or inc ine 7 whence it is discharged into a car T.

* Disposed adjacent the j' sides of the pan (or pans) 1' "are. rails R forthe support of the wheels 8 mounted to freely rotate on rollerbearings -9 at the ends' of the stationary axles 10 from "which: the igniting hood H 'is suspended. Thehood isso s'upported that it may be raised or lowered from and to the, pan with very little effort, the preferred manner of support being by means of the U-shaped balance levers L, L, .'-in opposite directions across the axles an across the length of :the hood, and projecting a suitable distance beyond the ends of the hood, the free ends of the long arms of the levers being pfov'ided'wi-th- ;pi in or sleeves 11 to be graspedby-thejhan -o the operator. The sides of thel'eve'rj'frames are fulcrumed to the axle, preferably i rivhted to a block 12 secured (if necessary) are horizontal the hood is raised an inch or so (Fig. 5) above the plane of the upper edge of. thepan (assuming of course that;

the pan has been rotated to a horizontal position), so that a slight oscillation of the long arms'of the levers L upwardlywill depressthesho'rt arms and thus lower the hood so that'thesa'me may rest onthe pan, the hood-being reviously wheeled directly over the pan. Hhe engaging surfaces between the hood and pan are carefully ina-.

.chined so thatwhen the hood rests onthe pan a tight joint or seal is formed against the influx of atmospheric cross-currents, the absence'of such currents permitting the ignition flame within the igniting chamber of thehoodto remain in undisturbed contact withthe surface of the charge." The crown 'of the hood is only about six inches above the surface of' the char'ge, andjwhen we consider that the area of t'his'surface is substantially eighty-four square-feet, theignition chamber C above'the char is, comparatively. very s allow or .low Figs. 1, 2) thereby-keeping the flames within it in close and permanent contact with the surface of the charge. The shallowness of-the i chamber is an important feature in the readily and instantly-fills the-T- entire chamher the moment the fuel of ignition is pro- .jected' into the chamber. The fuel for igniting the charge ma be gas or liquid to. the axle,-the short, arms of the levers (or;

ition present invention as the flame of. ignition,

(oreven powdered car on), and is intro-- duced into the chamber C through the sides of "the hood, through nozzles-14 leading from pipes 15- traveling with the hood, the intake ends of the ipes bein coupled to flexible hose 16 leading from t e main fuel supply pipe 17 and guided over sheaves andl of suiiicientv length to allow for the momentum to overcome the suction action of the exhauster so that the fuel becomes fully scattered ovcrthe'surfaceof the charge before it can be deflected to any material extent by the currents traversing the-charge underthe action ofithe 'exhauster.

The roof of the hood (through which the air supportingcombustion of the ignition neessary travel of the hood over the track fuel is admitted) is preferably constructed as shown, that 1s to say with a series of transverse T-bars 18 to the flanges of which is secured the outer sheet 19 having comparatively large openings or perforations 0 '(one and one-quarter inch diameter).

Spaced from the sheet 19 is the inner cast iron lining 20 preferably built of sections having comparatively small perforations o (one-half inch diameter), the connection being effected by means of bolts 21 and spacing thimbles 22 whereby an air jacket 23 is formed between the outer sheet and its lining, said jacket keeping the roof of the hood comparatively cool. The vertical walls of the hood are formed preferably of Z-bars t as shown, the corners of the hood being provided with brackets 24 with central de-.

pressions so as to pass around the lower halves of the axles 10 when the hood is I raised to its highest position to clear the pan (Fig. 5). Traveling'over the pan (or series of pans) is a trolley charging car 25 which charges the pans when necessary, this feature not being here entered into in detail as the car forms subjectmatter for a separate application. It is merely illustrated here to show its application to the pans. Features of construction here illustrated but not alluded to are well understood by the practical engineer and by those skilled in.

the art, and require no detailed description 1n the present connection.

The operationof the invention will now be readily understood. A pan having been charged from the car 25 and carefully leveled off, (the manner of filling the car not being here entered into because well under stood in the art), the hood is pushed over the pan and then lowered into operativepos1t1on therewith as already described, an

air tight joint being formed between the {nachmed engaging surfaces. As the hood is brought into position the exhauster is started and the operator inserts alighted torch or flame into the chamber C through a torch hole 26 (normally covered by a swinging plate 27.) and opens the valve V (Fig. 1) of the main fuel-supply pipe 17 whereupon the fuel is projected across the charge and in planes substantially parallel to the surface thereof, the charge reaching as already stated to the upper edge ofthe pan and forming ignition chamber C. The momentum of the fuel streams projected across the charge through the nozzles 14 prevents any material deflection thereof by the currents drafted through the charge by the exhauster, and hence no fuel is lost by being drawn prematurely into the charge. The gases of combustion, and the roaster gases'and air ercolating through the roof of the hood to supply the oxygen for the fuel and combustible elements of the charge) are howin effect the bottom of the ever drawn through the charge and the slots of the grates, and into, through and out of the chamber 4 as already described. The low roof of the ignition chamber G not only insures an instantaneous filling of this chamber with flame which forms a blanket over the charge, but holds the flame blanket in close contact with the entire surface of the charge, any disturbance of such contact being impossible owing to the absence of interfering cross air currents, which are effectively cut off by the seal between the hood and the pan. It follows therefore that under the action of the exhauster the zone of well ignited, the exhauster drawing the zone 'of combustion through the charge after the removal of the hood. Of course, to remove the hood, the operator simply depresses the levers L which raises the hood sufliciently to clear the pan, after which the hood may be readily wheeled out of the way or over the next pan of the series. The charge being fully treated, the operator stops the exhauster, turns the pan on its axis through an angle of approximately one hundred and eighty degrees and dumps the sintered mass onto the chute 7 whence it is received by the car T. Obviously, the fuel supply'is out off by closing the valve V the moment the charge is fairly ignited, in cases of charges having sufficient combustible elements to supply the heat of incipient fusion, in which cases the hood may be removed after ignition ofthe charge. In treating ores having no appreciable quantities of combustibles,

the hood is allowed to remain and the fuel supplied through the nozzles 14 to furnish the necessary heat and air for purposes of oxidation. In'the latter cases of course, the ultimate object of the treatment need not necessarily be to secure a sintering or agglomerating effect, but to recover values. In order to prevent the fine material m ofthe charge from clogging and destroying the grates, a-layer of coarse porous material m reasonably free from combustible matter, and from one-quarter to one inch in thickness is first deposited on the grates,

said coarse and comparatively incombustible' layer not only preventing the fine top layer from being drawn through 'the slots of the grates, but being itself susceptible of ready removal from the grates. This coarse layer too permits an even flow of gases through all portions of the grate surface thereby inertlayer forms ineffect a porous hearth on which the main charge to be sintered is producing a uniform product. The coarse treated. The char e as a'wholeis of course, properly mixed an moistened before being deposited on the the art. Obviously, the apparatus need not be restricted specifically to the sintering of ores," In treating sulfid ores for example where the object sought is to remove a maxi:

' mum amount of sulfur, it is desirable topass the air and gases throughthe charge just aslong as any sulfur continues to burn; or where the su'lfid ore is treated for matte making the gases are drawn through the .I tained in'the sintered material which becomes available in the subsequent blast furnace reduction process. These matters are here mentioned to make -iticlear that the apparatus herein is available for the treatment 'or roasting of an oreormaterial, be the process carried to t e-point of sintering or incipient fusion or not."

Having described my invention, what- I claim is a hood positioned overthe receptacle an 1. In a sintering, apparatus, a receptacle having a perforated support for the charge, an exhauster for drafting gases through the charge and through the perforated support igniting means adapted to be superposed over the charge and means for projecting the ignition fue across the surfade of the charge in paths substantially parallel to said surface and transverse tothe flow .of the gases drafted through the charge whereby the entire surface of the charge is simultaneously ignited.

2. In a sintering apparatus, a rece tacle having a perforated support for the 'ar charge and through the perforated support lgmtmg .means adapted: to be superpose over the charge, and means for projecting;

theignition fuel across the surface of/the charge inpaths substantially parallel and proxlmity to, said surface and transverseto the 'flow of the gases drafted through the charge, whereby the eiitire surfaceof the chargeis simultaneously ignited.

3'. In a sintering apparatus,- a r tacle having a perforated support for the c ar e, an exhauster for drafting gases through t e charge and-through the perforated support forming a low ignition chamber above the charge sealed at the sides against the influx of atmospheric cross-currents, and means for grate as well understood in 1 a p I ing an igniting;

- an exhauster for drafting gases through} c filling said chamber -with n me s) cause a substantially simultaneous ignitlon of th entire surface 'of the charge. I a

having a perforated support for the charge, an exhauster for draftmg gases through the charge and through the perforated support a hood positioned over the receptacle an charge sealed at the sides against the influx of atmospheric cross-currents, means for projecting streams of ignition fuel through the walls of the hood directly over, and m planessubstantially parallel to, the surface of the charge and transverse to the eneral direction of flow 'of the gases I rafted through the charge, and'means for admitting combustion-supporting' gases throu h the roof of the hood to supply oxygen to t e ignition fuel. a

5. In a sintering apparatus, a rece tacle an exhauster for drafting gases thfou'gh the charge and its support, igniting means adapted to be superposed over the charge, andmeans for-effecting an. even distribution of ignition fuelover the entire surface of the charge to bring abouta simultaneous ignition of the charge over said surface.-

6. In a sintering apparatus, a receptacle having a perforated support for the charge, an exhausterfordrafting gases through the over the receptacle and forming therewith an ignition chamber above the charge sealed at the sides a inst influx of cross air currents, means or distributing-ignition fuel for feeding air in distributed volume through the, roof of the hood for igniting the. fuel simultaneously over the entlre surface of the charge. 7 Y

In a sintering apparatus, a rece tacle having a perforatedsupport for the c arge, an.exhau 'ster for drafting gases through the charge and its the entire surfaeel-,of the charge, and. means for holding said fl'amw in contact with said r a e 1 8. .In a sintering eapparatus, a receptacle anexihaustersfpr drafting asesthrough t e thaving aarqof positioned in lose proximity charge andijjforming .t 'erew-itha low l g'nitronchamberover the charge. v a 9. In combination with a; receptacle .holdmg a charge to be treated, a hood adapted tobe positioned over the charge, means for introduc' -'gnition fuel through he hood over the c at e, the roof of the hood being provided wit an outer and an inner from;

charge and its support, a hood positioned over the surface of the. charge, andmeans su port, means for generat-.

am'e simultaneously over,

chargeaud its support, ,an an igniting hood perforated shell" perforated lin ng spaced there-' 4; In a sintering apparatus, a receptacle "forming a low ignition chamber over the having a perforated support for, the c arge, I

.havinga perforated support for the char 'e,

10. In combination with a receptacle holding a charge to be treated, an igniting hood lowering the hood from and to the receptacle. 1

1-1. In combination with a receptacle hold} ing a charge to be treated, an igniting hood provided with supports adapted to be moved over the receptacle, and balancing levers carried by said supports and coupled to the hood for raising and lowering the same,

12. In an apparatus of the character described, an igniting hood, wheel-axles for moving the same disposed at each end of the hood, levers coupled to the axles and having their long lever-arms extending over the hood in opposite directions, the levers-being linked to the adjacent ends of the hood, the levers serving as balancing members, for the hood. 7

13. In an apparatus of vthe character described, an ignitin hood, axles therefor, wheels on said ax es, balance levers fulcrumed about the axesvof' the axles and extending in opposite directions over the hood, and links pivotedto the ends of the hood and to the adjacent lever-arms of the levers:

14. In a down-draft sintering pan, a shallow hood forming with the pan a low ignition chamber above the charge in the pan, and means for filling said chamber with flame, whereby the zone of ignition simultaneously permeates the entire charge under the action of the draft.

15. In an apparatus of the character described, an igniting hood provided with an outer perforated sheet, and an inner per- 'forated lming spaced therefrom and forming an air jacket therewith.

16. A sintering apparatus comprising a receptacle rotata le about a fixed axis and having an upper compartment for the charge and a compartmentbelow the charge comthe short arms ofmunic'ating with the upper compartment through the charge and its support, hollow trunnions leading from the lower compartment and di sjpcise l: about the rotation axis of the receptacle; an exhauster communicating with the lower compartment through the hollow trunnions, a hood adapted to be temporarily placedover the charge and forming above the latter a shallow ignition chamber, and means on said hood for supplying an inflammable mixture adapted to be drawn toward the surface of the charge, and the flame of the mixture held against said surface, the gases being evenly drawn through the charge by of combustion simultaneously maintained throughout the entire charge.

v17. In a sintering apparatus, a receptacle having a perforated support for the charge, an exhauster for drafting gases through the charge and its support, an ignition chamber above the charge, means for distributing Within the chamber ignition fuel over the surface of the charge, and means for feeding air in distributed volume for igniting the fuel simultaneously over the entire surface of the charge.

18. In a sinterin' apparatus, a receptacle having a'perforate support for the charge, an exhauster for drafting gases through the charge and its support, an ignition chamber above the charge, means for distributlng within the chamber ignition fuel over the surface of the charge, and means for feeding air in'distributed volume through the roof of the chamber for igniting the fuel simultaneously over the entire surface of the charge.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN E. GREENAWALT.

Witnesses: C.-L. LINDELOF,

GEORGE F. PICKEN.

the exhauster and a. 'zone I 

